From farm to patients – Ontario foods celebrated at SickKids

It’s harvest season in Ontario and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) served up local fare in celebration of a grant, totalling just over $50,000, awarded today by the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation. The Broader Public Sector Investment Fund grant will help the hospital with an initiative to source more of its fresh food products from Ontario farmers. This will benefit patients, families and staff, as well as farmers and producers in the area.

Attendees included the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Health & Long-Term Care, and the Honourable Ted McMeekin, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, who officially announced the results of the grants for this round. The two joined together at the podium to acknowledge the importance of nutritious food for good health and healing.

To showcase the robust selection of fruits and vegetables available in the area, Chef Joshna Maharaj, who has been hired thanks to the funding from this grant, and Executive Chef Shawn Studholme created a mouth-watering menu for the event. Pumpkin soup, colourful beet salad and squash bread pudding drizzled with warm maple butterscotch sauce were served up after an interactive cooking demonstration.

Joining the ministers in the food preparation fun were SickKids President and CEO, Mary Jo Haddad, and Burkhard Mausberg, CEO of the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lay squash half, cut side down on sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, or until squash is completely tender and starting to caramelize. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, gently scrape out seeds, then scrape squash into a bowl, squeezing out any excess liquid with your hands. Set aside.

Make sauce: In a small saucepan on medium, heat butter and maple syrup until the butter is melted. Take pan off of heat and whisk in whipping cream until homogenous. Serve warm or room temperature over cooled bread pudding.

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside. Slice pumpkin and squash in half lengthwise. Leaving the seeds in, place pumpkin and squash cut side down on lined baking sheet and roast until vegetables are tender and a knife slides through the thickest part easily, about 40 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large soup pot on medium high heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add cinnamon & nutmeg, stir and cook for another minute.3. Add diced sweet potatoes and toss well to coat potatoes in onion mixture. Add enough water to cover sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.4. When pumpkin and squash are cool enough to handle, scrape out seeds, then scrape out the flesh of the vegetables and transfer to soup pot. Add enough water to cover vegetables and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all vegetables are very tender.5. Using an immersion blender, puree soup well, going a bit further than you think you need to in order to get a smooth, velvety finish. Season soup with salt, pepper & heavy cream. Start with 1 tsp of cider vinegar and taste, adding the remaining tsp as necessary for brightness. Garnish soup with fresh sage and serve.

Using a mandolin with the julienne blade attached, slice beets, carrots and daikon, keeping them in separate bowls.

Pour 6 tbsp of the rice vinegar over the beets, and the remaining 2 tbsp over the daikon, then add ½ tsp of sugar and ¼ tsp salt to each bowl and toss well to coat. Allow to sit for at least an hour.When ready to serve, combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss well to combine.